"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible."
-T.E. Lawrence, "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom"

Friday, April 15, 2005

Feet

I love my feet. In fact, I love them so much I take them wherever I go. My favorite “shoes” are my Chaco sandals. Without these my feet would be quite sad. Yes, I have other pairs of shoes that I love wearing like my clogs, my mountaineering boots (the normal “lay person” says hiking boots, but I must use mountaineering to sound cool), or my running shoes, but my Chacos are #1. I love soccer and that involves continuous feet action. During my soccer heydays, I would play for several hours in terrible conditions and enjoy it immensely. However, after getting my feet wet, sweating in my cleats and not allowing my feet to dry out, I developed an athlete’s foot infection that made doctors scream. Yes, it was terrible! I would take my shoes off in my room at college and they would literally stink up the entire room!! Without proper hygiene, my feet will get nasty. They will become dirty. One summer, I wore my Chacos nearly every day while working in a garden center. My feet were dirty all the time because I would dig out trees, shrubs, or mulch. What would I do to clean them? I would walk to the hose and hose them off. It was not a big ordeal because I knew where I was working; I expected to get dirty and knew how to clean them. As I have pondered feet in the past weeks, one observation has come to my mind. My feet do not have a mind of their own. They are connected to what doctors and expert physicians call, “the body.” The body is run by the brain which tells the feet where to go. Thus, looking at someone’s feet can tell you about their self. Do they have running shoes? If yes, then they are probably an athlete of some sorts. Do they have mountaineering boots? If yes, then they probably hike a lot, or hop in their hummer to drive to the shopping mall. Are they dirty? Are they clean? Do they smell? Have they been well kept? The reason for pondering feet so much is the revelation of sin in my life. I have sin in my life. Yet, as I read certain scriptures, it seems to tell me that I am not to have sin. Certain passages tell me that I do not sin, that I cannot sin or that I am a new creation, living in the power of Jesus Christ. If this is true, if the Bible is true, then why do I sin? Why do I find that my “feet” are dirty? It is at this point that I came across a passage that has helped me greatly. John 13:10 says: Jesus said to him (Peter): “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean;”

If you do not understand feet in Jesus’ time, you will not understand this verse. Back then, they would wear sandals everywhere and the roads were dusty. When they would enter a house, each time they would wash their feet. They did not wash their body each time they entered the house. Thus is the case with our lives. I have trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and accepted His love and forgiveness for my sins. He has washed me clean. However, I am still active in a “dirty” world and because my mind is continually being transformed and trained to think like Jesus, I do wander into “dirty” areas. I am not in need of an entire new bath, as Jesus said in John 13:10, but simply need a “feet” washing. How do I get my “feet” washed? As I said earlier about my garden center work, I had to wash my feet all the time. The first part is realizing they are dirty. The second part is cleaning them. In this first part, relating to my spiritual life, I play a huge part in this. The scriptures, Christian brothers and sisters and most importantly, the Holy Spirit, all show me or reflect my “feet’s” cleanliness. The second part, the cleansing is hard because it is something I cannot do. I can only confess they are dirty, but Jesus is the One that cleanses my sins (I John 1:9). He cleans my feet. My “feet” will become dirty in a dirty world, but I must realize this to protect myself. If I continue to go into the mud with my sandals, my feet will be perpetually dirty. Not only will they stay dirty, but fungi will start to grow on them. In fact, my lack of hygiene could cause my entire body to be weakened and shorten the life that I could have lived. My body could still be spotless and clean, but I still die prematurely. Thus is the case with my spiritual life. If my focus is on living a perfect life and “managing” my sins, then my life will be spent on looking at my “feet.” When I realize they are dirty, it will depress me because I have prided myself in my wonderful “feet”, only to realize I have never compared them to anything else. I could be wallowing in mud for all I know and not realize there is something better. Or, I could live a different life. To realize the emphasis is not on my “feet”, but where my feet are taking me. Whose “feet” do they look like? If I continually have a pair of clean “feet” in mind, my true condition of perpetually dirty “feet” will be in view. This means I must take my focus off of myself and fix my eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:1). I do not write this to confuse you, but to encourage you. This Christian life has nothing to do with perfection, because we have already obtained perfection. This Christian life has nothing to do with a sin count or degrees of sin. The Christians life is that God Himself has forgiven you of all your sin; He has given you a complete bath and continues to wash your feet. It is not our job to wash our feet, but to accept His washing. In order to do this, you must confess. Not moan, or be depressed or beat yourself, but simply confess that you have dirty feet.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. -1 John 1:9